- US Congress to discuss App Store Accountability Act on December 2
- Pinterest, Meta and X support the bill, but Apple and Google have concerns
- Congress discusses a total of 19 bills focused on children’s online safety
Lawmakers around the world have been working to strengthen children’s online safety in 2025, and the United States is no exception.
So far, US states have taken matters into their own hands – Missouri being the latest to implement its age verification law – with Congress lagging behind. Still, lawmakers want to catch up at the federal level and are ready to discuss a wide range of proposals focused on child safety today.
Among these, the App Store Accountability Act (ASA) worries Apple and Google, despite the support of companies like Meta, X and now Pinterest.
Following the path of Utah, Texas, and California, the bill was introduced in May by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. John James (R-MI), and seeks to shift responsibility onto App Store vendors. Under the legislation, Google and Apple will be responsible for providing safeguards to minors, including verifying their age with privacy in mind and limiting access to apps if they are deemed too young.
Apple and Google, however, have expressed concerns about the level of data sharing required by the ASA and similar laws. “These proposals introduce new risks to the privacy of minors, without actually addressing the harms that compel lawmakers to act,” Google wrote.
It’s also unclear how these requirements will be upheld in court, as Texas’ app store age verification law (which is expected in January 2026) is being challenged by two lawsuits.
What is certain is that if the ASA is adopted, it will become much more difficult for users to use a virtual private network (VPN) or similar tools to protect their data and circumvent the rules.
19 child safety bills to discuss
The ASA is far from the only bill currently under consideration. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee is hearing a total of 19 proposals on this topic today. These include another controversial bill, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), after it returned to Congress in May.
Experts at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) have warned that the proposal – which would require online service providers to protect minors from a wide range of online dangers – could end up making the Internet worse for everyone.
“Lawmakers who support KOSA today are choosing to trust the current and future administrations to define what young people – and to some extent, all of us – should be allowed to read online,” they wrote.
Another bill that should be discussed is the SCREEN Act, or Protecting Children’s Retinas from Blatant Exposure on the Net. This follows similar rules implemented in some states and aims to introduce age verification measures for adult websites and apps.
Even though federal guidelines could fix what experts call a “state-by-state legal mess,” familiar issues around privacy, data security and the right to free speech will remain. We’ll wait to see if lawmakers get the balance right this time.
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